


a gift for you, my love, this cold winter's day

by merthurmagic025



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Christmas, Falling In Love, Kiss in the Snow, M/M, Pining, Sharing Clothes, Snow, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:00:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27734950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merthurmagic025/pseuds/merthurmagic025
Summary: It's the dead of winter in Camelot, and Arthur has noticed how cold Merlin's been lately. After all, he didn't have many warm clothes. Arthur decided to remedy this, and a slippery slope of gift-giving leads to a tender moment in the snowfall.
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 30
Kudos: 170
Collections: Merlin Holidays 2020





	a gift for you, my love, this cold winter's day

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tehfanglyfish](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tehfanglyfish/gifts).



> I was so excited and SO intimidated when I got assigned to write for you, tehfanglyfish! I love everything you write so it's an honor to gift this to you. I really hope you like it :)

“Excellent work there, Lancelot,” Arthur praised as he got back on his feet. Brushing the snow off his armor, he looked around at his knights and noticed most of their faces were quite red and a few were shivering. “That’s enough training for the day, go and warm up,” he declared. After hearing a distant cheer from Gwaine, he added, “and I don’t mean with ale!”

Chuckling to himself, Arthur turned back towards the castle. It had been a successful day of training despite the cold and the snow, but he was just as ready to get close to a fire as the rest of his knights. As usual, Merlin was there to take his weapons and plate armor. But unlike usual, he was dead quiet.

“Merlin? Has your endless stream of meaningless prattle finally run dry?” he teased. Merlin gave him a dark glare in response. If he was being honest, Arthur was slightly concerned; he knew how cold it was, and Merlin hadn’t been training so he was likely even colder.  _ Best to hurry and get inside _ , he thought.

Merlin was silent as they walked through the corridors together on the way back to Arthur’s chambers, although Arthur could hear his teeth chattering slightly. When they finally reached his chambers, Arthur felt Merlin’s cold fingers undressing him so he could change into some cleaner clothes for dinner. Looking down, he was surprised and concerned to see that Merlin’s fingers were blue! Instinctively, he grabbed Merlin’s hand and instantly felt just how ice cold it was.

He heard Merlin gasp in surprise as he shouted, “Merlin! Your hands are freezing, what were you thinking?”

“Oh,  _ my apologies _ , my lord, let me just go warm my hands up before undressing you so as to not cause you any discomfort,” Merlin replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

“No you dolt, I mean you need to keep your hands warmed when we’re outside. Hang on,” Arthur said, and went to go rummage through a chest in the corner of his room with some of his old clothes in it. “Aha!” he exclaimed, holding up a slightly worn pair of leather gloves. 

He handed the gloves out to Merlin, who looked at them suspiciously. Rolling his eyes, Arthur shoved the gloves into Merlin’s hands. “These will keep your hands warm during training tomorrow.” Quickly, he added, “So I don’t have to wait for your hands to warm up before being undressed, obviously.”

Merlin accepted the gloves, still looking skeptical, and then continued undressing Arthur.

The next morning at training, Arthur noticed Merlin wearing his old gloves and he felt a warm feeling spreading in his chest. He found himself smiling softly and looking at Merlin, but snapped out of it quickly when he noticed Lancelot giving him an amused look. 

Later that day, they were in Arthur’s chambers packing for a hunt. “Pass me those furs, Merlin,” Arthur ordered. Merlin complied, and Arthur ran his hands over the soft and warm coat. He looked over at Merlin and his slightly tattered light jacket and realized the other man probably didn’t have anything warmer to wear. He’d been shivering during training yesterday, after all, and gloves won’t warm his whole body. 

“Merlin,” he called. Merlin looked up and Arthur handed the fur coat back to him. “You take this one, it’s…” he trailed off, trying to think of an excuse. “It’s uh… it doesn't go with my tunic.” Arthur wanted to slap himself in the face, he just knew Merlin was going to make fun of him for that.

Sure enough, Merlin was already preparing some insults. Arthur could tell from the way his eyes lit up and he couldn’t hold back a slight smile, although he was trying to keep a straight face.  _ Oh well _ , Arthur thought.  _ At least Merlin will be warmer on the hunt _ .

That evening, Arthur found himself unnecessarily close to Merlin sitting in front of a fire they’d started in the woods. It had gotten too cold to hunt and they were just going to warm up a little before heading back to Camelot. He hadn’t planned to inch closer and closer to Merlin, but it was like there was some force pulling him in.  _ Merlin’s natural charm _ , he thought, not quite sarcastically. Luckily for him, Merlin hadn’t made any comments about it. He was close enough to feel the soft furs from the coat he’d given Merlin, and upon thinking about that, he felt the warm feeling spreading in his chest again. He thought he saw Merlin try to make eye contact a couple times, like he was going to say something, but he always looked away. They sat in comfortable but tenuous silence until they headed back to Camelot for the night.

A few days later, Arthur was wandering around the castle, mingling with his citizens and certainly-not-following-Merlin-thank-you-very-much-Lancelot. He was clutching a soft red scarf in his hands. He’d seen it in one of the market stalls and he just knew he had to get it for Merlin. After all, those threadbare scarves he wore surely weren't keeping him warm enough. It had been snowing for days! Merlin certainly needed a warmer scarf. As for the color, well, it was Pendragon red, but so were half of his servant’s normal scarves. Certainly nothing out of the ordinary there.

Arthur had lost sight of Merlin for a moment, lost in thought, but he saw him again standing out on the battlements. Arthur took in the sight before him: Merlin was gazing happily out at the citadel, smiling as snowflakes landed on his hair and on his face. He stuck out his tongue to catch some, and Arthur felt a blush rising on his cheeks. Merlin was… gorgeous. He wasn’t quite sure where that thought had come from, but he certainly couldn’t argue with it. As Merlin brought his tongue back into his mouth and smiled with satisfaction at having caught some snowflakes, Arthur gathered his composure and started towards him.

“Umm, Merlin,” Arthur said, not nearly as authoritatively as he’d intended. It seemed he hadn’t quite recovered from his revelation about Merlin’s… well, beauty. Merlin looked at him, amused, so Arthur continued. “I noticed your scarves are looking fairly thin, and I thought you might need a warmer one for these cold months.” Arthur noticed somewhere in the back of his mind that he wasn't making excuses for giving gifts to Merlin anymore, but he was captivated by the snowflakes caught in Merlin’s eyelashes.

Unexpectedly, Merlin took a step towards Arthur and took the scarf from his hands. “It’s lovely Arthur, thank you. You’ve been giving me a lot of things recently.” Arthur gulped nervously, hoping Merlin wasn’t upset. “And I think I know why,” Merlin continued. Arthur’s eyes widened as Merlin stepped closer still. He took the scarf and draped it slowly and carefully around Arthur’s neck. He shivered, whether from the sensation of the fabric or from the cold or from the intimacy of what Merlin was doing, he wasn’t sure. 

Eyes still wide and a blush burning on his cheeks, Arthur dared to make eye contact with Merlin. The look he found there was almost predatory, hungry, but also full of affection. “Arthur,” Merlin whispered confidently, “do you like seeing me in your clothes?” Shocked, Arthur just nodded quickly. Images of Merlin in his gloves by the training field and in his coat by the fire flashed through his mind. He wasn’t sure what was happening, but he wasn’t about to make it stop. 

Merlin took another step closer; their faces were mere inches away now. “Arthur,” Merlin began again, “do you like looking at me?” Arthur gave Merlin a slight pleading look and nodded. He wasn’t sure how much more of this he could take; the tension in the air between them was palpable. “Arthur,” Merlin whispered, and how Arthur loved to hear his name from those lips. 

“Arthur,” he said again, softer this time, before reaching forward and taking hold of the scarf wrapped around Arthur’s neck. Arthur felt the tug on his neck and the cold bite of the wind as he was pulled forward, and then he felt nothing but the soft and welcoming warmth of Merlin’s lips on his own. Merlin’s kiss was demanding, yet yielding, and Arthur felt himself melting into it. Merlin’s hands came up to the back of his head, slender fingers running through his hair, and he moaned softly into Merlin’s mouth. Arthur recovered from his surprise and brought his arms up to wrap around Merlin’s waist and hold him closer as they continued to kiss.

Finally, Merlin broke away, face flushed and breathing heavily. Arthur could do nothing but stare at his pink, swollen lips, blushed cheeks, and snow-dusted hair. “I…” Arthur began, but he was at a loss for words. “You… I… um…  _ Merlin, _ ” he finally got out. Although it didn’t make much sense, the combination of his words and the hopelessly-in-love look on his face got the message through to Merlin, who beamed at him.

“Let’s get inside and out of the cold, shall we?” Merlin asked as he reached out for Arthur’s hand. Arthur nodded gently and let Merlin take his hand in his. He’d follow Merlin anywhere, he decided. Absolutely anywhere.


End file.
